NEWSMAKERS

March 7, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

NEWSMAKERS

Fox cancels sci-fi series ‘Terra Nova’

LOS ANGELES

The dinosaurs will roam no more: Fox has axed “Terra Nova.”

The time-travel epic executive-produced by Steven Spielberg got the bad news Monday that it would not be returning next season, the network confirmed in a statement. There’s talk of selling the show to another network, but no formal pitch has been put together yet, according to a source connected to the series.

One of the most heavily publicized new shows of this season, “Terra Nova” was also one of the costliest TV shows ever, with a two-hour pilot that cost $20 million. Much of that expense went to creating special effects that included sophisticated renderings of dinosaurs that greet travelers who are zapped 85 million years into the past. The show required six additional weeks of post-production per episode (the typical drama gets about four weeks total) just to process the effects.

The premiere drew a respectable 9.2 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, but the show never grew or broke through in a way that justified its enormous outlay. The finale in December delivered just 7.4 million viewers.

Garth Brooks talks about Hall of Fame

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

An emotional Garth Brooks said his addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame at 50 is probably a little premature when you look at the long list of his influences who haven’t yet been inducted.

The “Friends in Low Places” singer transformed country music, but Tuesday he was more interested in talking about the singers who transformed him. Brooks spoke during a news conference to announce he will be inducted later this year with singer Connie Smith and keyboard player Hargus “Pig” Robbins.

“You’re excited,” Brooks said. “You feel very honored. But at the same time there’s this kind of guilt or, I don’t know what it is, a kind of embarrassment, so you feel uneasy because I wouldn’t be standing here today talking to you if it wasn’t for Randy Travis. I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you today if it wasn’t for Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Steve Wariner, these guys. ... I think eventually they will get in, but it probably should’ve been before Garth Brooks came in. That’s the whole feeling for the day.”

The announcement was made at a news conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Brooks, Smith and Robbins will be officially inducted at a ceremony this year.

Disney songwriter Robert Sherman dies

LONDON

Songwriter Robert B. Sherman, who wrote the tongue-twisting “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and other enduring songs for Disney classics, has died. He was 86.

Sherman’s agent, Stella Richards, said Tuesday that Sherman died peacefully in London on Monday.

With his brother Richard, Sherman composed scores for Disney films including “The Jungle Book,” “The Aristocats,” “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”

Their songs also included “It’s a Small World After All,” written for the 1964 World’s Fair.

The brothers won two Academy Awards for “Mary Poppins,” as well as a Grammy and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Vindicator wire reports